1:Stolen Moment

All characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I just borrow them for my own twisted pleasure. ;)

"Harry?

"Yeah?"

Ginny shifted in his arms slightly and then surprised him with her next question.

"Can I see you without your shirt on?"

Harry's hand paused mid-stroke and then fell back naturally to her head, landing gently on the tangle of hair he'd just been playing with. He suddenly felt his heart begin to beat faster and the creature he'd thought had gone to sleep started to purr again.

It was completely quiet and dark (something for which he was glad, as that meant she couldn't possibly see the tell-tale flush of his skin) for Ginny had cast not only a Silencing Charm around his bed but a light-dousing one as well. After a moment, she pulled away from him and sat up, causing Harry to frown, but only because he'd been enjoying her lying in his arms a bit too much.

He felt her hands moving and then heard her mutter, 'Lumos ' and a soft light filled the enclosed space. He squinted at her for a moment and then turned to find the place they'd set his glasses earlier. He slipped them on and gave her a half-smile, sitting up and moving back on the bed so that his head now rested against the headboard.

They stared at each other for a moment and Harry noted the amused yet determined glint in her eyes, and the way her hair seemed to be alive with colour in the dim glow of her wand.

"Come again?" he asked playfully, not being able to stop the slow grin working its way across his face.

Ginny bit her lip and then matched his expression, a wicked light in her eyes.

"You heard me."

"If I comply do I get to see you without yours?"

Ginny snorted and shook her head, her hair falling around her in a red wave. The purring in Harry's chest started getting louder.

"I don't think we're quite up to that stage, do you?" she finally said, her mouth twitching.

Harry considered it and let his eyes travel down her face into more...secret places (although they weren't quite so secret when she didn't have her robe on, he was pleased to note). There were places on Ginny his hands had already decided they quite liked.

Ginny, as though reading his mind, interrupted his thoughts. "Seeing isn't quite the same as touching, Harry."

He brought his eyes back up to her face and smiled. "So you won't be touching me then, when I take off my shirt?"

Ginny looked half-way torn between looking scandalised and looking amused. The amusement won as she laughed quietly and Harry's heart went into overdrive. She shook her head again.

"No. I just...want to see."

Harry studied the look in her eyes and couldn't determine what had prompted this curiosity of hers but decided he didn't actually care. He shrugged and then sat forward. After making certain she was watching him, he pulled his shirt up over his shoulders, mindful of his glasses, and felt only momentarily anxious. Being with Ginny was the most natural thing in the world to him and he rarely felt self-conscious when they were alone.

With the creature and his heart both dancing a sort of fox trot together in the middle of his chest, he watched her as her eyes took him in and a slow sort of flush appeared on her cheeks. He knew that flush. It wasn't a blush of embarrassment; it was a reaction that meant she liked what she saw.

She met his eyes and then leaned forward, moving closer to him. Her eyes were half-closed and her hair had fallen forward so that when she was close enough, he felt it caressing his skin. Suddenly Harry could only feel the rapid dance of the creature in his chest moving some place decidedly downwards. He didn't even have time to fully appreciate this fact before Ginny's lips met his and he was pulling her down on top of him, a growl working its way out of the back of his throat.

They kissed for what felt like an eternity to him and it was only when the sound of the dull roar in his ears died that he realised the creature had taken something else along with it as it travelled south - all of his blood seemed to be meeting in one place as well. Harry felt a shock of embarrassment - he and Ginny were comfortable with each other - but he had not, as of yet, let that part of his anatomy make itself fully known.

Ginny pulled her mouth away from his and glanced downwards, and his gaze followed hers. When she looked back up at him, there was a smirk on her face and a teasing light in her eyes that he knew he should immediately be wary of.

"Don't say it," he warned, narrowing his eyes.

She gave him an almost believable innocent look. "Say what? I've noticed nothing out of the ordinary, Harry."

He pursed his lips and then exhaled sharply as she shifted her body against his. The pleased look in her eyes only made his creature roar with approval and some part of his brain knew he had to tell it to calm down or things were going to get very messy, very quickly.

"Have you seen all you need to see yet?" he asked, ignoring the laughter he could see in her eyes. He knew she could tell the effect she was having on him. It thrilled him to see that she was enjoying it and that she was more than a little excited, but he also knew that the chances of someone eventually interrupting them far outweighed any momentary pleasures they might share. Harry didn't fancy getting caught doing that by anyone who knew Ron. In fact, the idea of it being Ron finding them suddenly cleared the fog in his brain, and he used his arm to push Ginny away from him, while reaching for his shirt with the other.

"Harry, I was enjoying that...position," Ginny said lightly, sounding put-out. He growled at her and slipped his shirt back over his head, this time getting it stuck on the frames of his glasses.

"Do you have any idea what your brother would do to me if he found us on my bed and one of us was missing a shirt?" he asked grumpily, once his head was clear.

Ginny grinned. "He'd be fine with it as long as it was you missing the shirt and not me." She paused, a devilish look on her face. "Well, he'd be fine with it eventually. But only after someone had pointed it out over your dead body."

Harry made a sort of 'hah' sound and ran his hand through his hair, shaking his head. He wondered how long they'd been away from everyone and if anyone had noticed they hadn't come down to dinner.

"We still have time, don't worry."

Harry looked at Ginny - her expression was no longer amused but serious, and her eyes held that blazing light he realised he quite liked. It was as though every emotion she felt for him was in that look. It was brilliant.

"What makes you think I wouldn't be the one victorious over Ron?" he finally asked as she moved back towards him and he slipped his arms around her.

Ginny looked up at him, her mouth dangerously close to his as she moved forward. "Because you'd fight to the death to protect my honour, wouldn't you?"

Harry smirked and nodded. They kissed again and all thoughts of Ron, fighting and dead bodies left his head. Harry knew nothing but the girl in his arms and it was good.

***

Afterwards, once Ginny had made sure the coast was still clear, they emerged from Harry's bed looking far more tousled then when they'd originally sat down and they spent quite a long while tidying each other up. Ginny's hand pulled on his shirt, smoothing it down, and he smirked at her as she bit her lip, trying to tuck it back into his jeans.

"Erm, perhaps I should do that?" he asked. His voice sounded deeper to his ears, and the creature, which was purring once more inside him, gave a contented sigh.

Ginny glanced up at him and smiled. "Yes, perhaps you should. I wouldn't want anything to go off down there."

Harry chuckled, and when they were both presentable, they joined hands and made it to the common room before anyone else was back from dinner. Ron and Hermione soon joined them by the fireplace and they all spent the evening laughing. Ginny curled herself in between his legs, sitting on the floor and reading the Daily Prophet. Harry reflected on the fact that he had never felt as happy as he did now and let his hands stray to her hair again, his fingers getting lost in it.

Talk eventually turned to the gossip about him and Ginny being together, and Harry realised that yet again, he honestly didn't care.

"You'd think people had better things to gossip about," said Ginny from her position on the floor. "Three Dementor attacks in a week, and all Romilda Vane does is ask me if it's true you've got a hippogriff tattooed across your chest."

Harry heard Ron and Hermione erupt with laughter at the thought, but something was finally clicking together in his head and he ignored them - all of his attention on the girl at his feet. He tried to keep a straight face as he looked at her.

"What did you tell her?"

Ginny continued reading the newspaper, not looking at him. "I told her it's a Hungarian Horntail." She flipped a page of the paper idly. "Much more macho."

Harry felt his heart leap with quiet joy. "Thanks," he said, grinning. He flicked his eyes at Ron, who was still laughing at the idea, but Harry knew that the realisation his baby sister had seen his best mate's chest would soon dawn on him. "And what did you tell her Ron's got?" he asked, hoping to stall the inevitable.

"A Pygmy Puff, but I didn't say where."

Harry couldn't help but smile to himself as Hermione erupted into laughter and Ron scowled. Harry's mood didn't even change as Ginny and Ron got into another territory fight about who did what with whom.

Later, as they all got up to go to their separate dormitories (Hermione pulling Ron away from Harry and Ginny so they could say goodnight properly), Harry kissed her once more and smiled down at her.

"You didn't really think I had a tattoo on my chest, did you?"

Ginny bit her lip and then grinned. "No, not really. But...well, it did give me an excuse to get your shirt off."

"You're a minx, do you know that?" Harry whispered, holding her chin with his hand.

Ginny nodded her head solemnly. "No one else but me is going to know for certain what you do or do not have on your chest, Harry Potter."

They kissed one more time and then she was slipping away from him, their hands pulling apart as she turned to go. He watched her walk away until her form disappeared up the stairs to the girls' dormitory, his heart filling with something that made his chest tighten with fierceness. He didn't realise he was whistling as he made his way to his own bed, which caused Ron to give him a funny look. When he laid back on his bed a short time later, undressed and ready for sleep, he turned on his side and could still smell the deep flowery scent of the girl he had just said goodnight to and Harry knew that for as long as she would have him...he was hers.